


i'll be with you from dusk till dawn (baby, i'm right here)

by Lobattsonlegends



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, One Shot, it's kinda all over the place just read and you'll see aight, there's also some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lobattsonlegends/pseuds/Lobattsonlegends
Summary: Renee comforts Wattson after Caustic makes the Legends believe Crypto is the mole and betraying the Legends.
Relationships: Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	i'll be with you from dusk till dawn (baby, i'm right here)

**Author's Note:**

> so i'm a huge loba/wattson shipper and i've been basically feeding myself crumbs by writing the only fics in that tag, but I actually really love darksparks and find them very cute so I wanted to give them a chance :) 
> 
> hope you guys enjoy <3 title is from the song "dusk till dawn" by zayn featuring sia, but specifically the madilyn bailey version of the song because it's really beautiful and emotional, i recommend listening to it while reading if you want to.

She hears the cries the minute she turns down the hallway of the Legends' quarters.

She's no stranger to the screams and the cries of others, and definitely no stranger to pain, as the voices that whisper to her tell her all about their pain. She's had to deal with a lot of her own pain as well, and while she's been a master at bottling things up from time to time, she's not completely shut off from her emotions. If she hears a person crying, her first instinct is to reach out- to figure out the issue, especially if it was someone she cared a lot about.

It just so happens that this person was the person she cared about the most, at the moment.

Renee rushes down the hallway to the last door on the right. A big sign hangs there, the name "Wattson" in big, bold letters on a piece of flimsy cardboard, small drawings of the engineer's signature fences and pylons littering the makeshift canvas. The Legends weren't required to have their names on their doors- everyone knew at this point which rooms were assigned to which person, or robot, but in typical Wattson fashion, she wanted to make her door special. She liked being different- subverting everyone's expectations of her, always thinking of the next project or experiment, always looking to catch people off guard.

Renee thought it was silly to begin with, something so childish and immature. But Natalie had just smiled that blinding smile at her and slapped the sign on her door with a light giggle, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'll do one for you too." Natalie had said to her, ignoring the lighthearted jab that Renee had sent her. And soon enough, Renee woke up the next morning and opened her door to a sign on her own door, her name big and block-y, cute doodles of portals and attempts at her face littering the cardboard.

It remains there months later.

Another cry from inside the room shakes her from her thoughts, and without much hesitation, Renee pushes the door open as gently as possible in order not to scare the woman inside. She steps in and observes Natalie, her heart constricting painfully in her chest at the sight of her. Curled in the tightest ball on her bed, equipment off and loose sweats adorning her body, sobs wracking her small frame.

Renee pushes the door shut behind her with her back, leaning her body on the sturdy steel and clamping down a hiss at how cold it felt. She wants to give Natalie space- wants to give her the choice of whether or not to be comforted. Renee isn't the best at it; hell, she still seizes up at times when one of the Legends so much as _brushes_ her hand while walking by her, practically burning her skin and sending her back to that place, where they pricked and prodded at her like she wasn't a human being- like what she wanted didn't matter in the slightest. But she always tries, at least. She tries, because Natalie tries for _her_ , Natalie listens to her when she breaks down about the shit they did to her, listens to her when she expresses her concerns with the voices she hears. She never once thinks she's crazy, or that she's too much to handle. Instead, she pulls her into a warm embrace that Renee wonders is truly meant for her and rubs her back with a softness that almost always makes Renee cry.

So, now, it's her turn to be there for her.

"Nat?" Renee whispers, so soft that she wonders if Natalie will hear it over her desperate cries. But, somehow, she hears it. Natalie's cries don't stop, but she lifts her head from where her face is buried in her pillow, watery blue eyes and tear stricken face meeting hers. Natalie sniffles, and the sound is wretched, but Renee doesn't care. Not when Natalie sits up to look at her properly, not when Natalie opens her arms towards her and utters a soft "Ren" that causes Renee to rush to her immediately, a particularly harsh sob escaping Natalie's lips when Renee wraps her up in her arms. She pulls them both back down onto Natalie's bed, and Natalie presses close to her body, burying her face into Renee's chest, and she can feel her tears soaking through her night shirt, but says nothing. 

She says nothing else for a long time, allowing Natalie the time she needs to compose herself, to let all of her feelings out in whatever way she needs right now. Natalie tightens her hold on her, delicate hands bunching up the fabric of her shirt at her back. Renee sighs gently and cups the back of Natalie's head, encouraging her to stay right where she is as she begins to run her fingers through her short blonde hair- messy and unkempt due to the state of everything right now.

Renee knows what it's about. She knows who's to blame for her friend's cries- knows the person that betrayed her trust and hurt her immensely. Renee should have warned her- should have redirected her time spent with Crypto to time spent on other things, in order to protect her from this exact thing. The pain and hurt of not knowing who you can trust, and not knowing the person you've been opening up to this whole time. Renee clenches her jaw as she holds Natalie, pushing thoughts of Crypto out of her mind in order to focus on the woman in the bed with her, the one that needs her.

She continues her movements in Natalie's hair. She wiggles her other arm underneath the woman in order to reach her back properly, using that hand to start slow, gentle strokes up and down. Natalie's cries still shake through her body, but have quietened down considerably since Renee first found her. She may not always understand how to comfort another person, but she figures she's doing an okay job so far if Natalie's grip on her meant anything at all.

After another few minutes of letting Natalie cry into her chest, eventually the engineer fell relatively silent in her arms. For a moment, Renee thought the woman might have fallen fast asleep, but a shift from her pushed that thought away quickly. Natalie sniffles once more, before she began to raise herself from Renee's arms just slightly, only to turn and look down at her from her position above her. Her eyes are a sparkling blue as always, but with a ghastly shade of red rimming the edges, faint tear tracks still on her puffy cheeks. Renee remains quiet, placing the ball entirely in Natalie's court in this situation.

" _Désolé_ ," Natalie says. She clears her throat when her normally soft voice comes out like a frog's croak, scratchy in her throat. Renee crinkles her eyebrows at the apology, before Natalie continues. "Your shirt is quite ruined."

Renee looks down at said shirt, an enormous wet patch spreading over her chest area from Natalie's incessant tears. Her lip just quirked up in a hint of her usually hidden smile, meeting Natalie's eyes again.

"Laundry day tomorrow. It'll come out." Renee replies, revelling briefly in the spark of light that returned to Natalie's eyes. Renee takes a breath and reaches out towards her, gently grasping her hand and interlacing their fingers with a squeeze. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it." Her voice is as gentle as she can make it, in order to not scare Natalie away.

Natalie pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing on it thoughtfully as Renee watches her intently. Natalie breathes out a sigh and flops back down onto the bed, on her back this time, and gazes up at the cracks in the ceiling. Renee shifts to be on her back as well, breaking her stare on Natalie's face.

"I thought I knew him." Natalie murmured, so soft that Renee almost missed it entirely. Her heart clenches at the pain interlacing her voice; the crack in it. Renee nods, but doesn't speak as Natalie finishes her thought. "I don't know if Dr. Caustic is telling the truth. Whether he is the mole or not..." She falters and trails off. Renee glances to her side profile, reaching in between their bodies to grasp her hand again. Natalie squeezes it immediately.

"He still was never completely honest with me." Natalie finally utters. "And that's what hurts the most."

Renee absentmindedly brushes her thumb over Natalie's knuckles. It causes Natalie to look over at her, their eyes locking.

"I don't know what the truth is." Renee says, Natalie's eyes roaming all over her face as she speaks. "All I know is that I'm here for you. I know I'm not exactly..." Her words trail off, her throat almost clogging up as she tries to figure out the right things to say. Natalie watches her patiently from her side of the bed, and Renee huffs in frustration, rubbing at her temple as voices filter in and out of her mind- from realms and dimensions beyond her control at the moment. She hears Natalie make a noise- a cross between concern and fear- and she is quick to raise her hand, shaking her head to clear some of the noise. "I'm okay." She reassures.

Before Natalie can say anything, words start tumbling out of her mouth. "I know I'm not... Always the best at comforting. And sometimes I don't always understand..." Renee raises a hesitant hand and places it on Natalie's shoulder, thumb beginning to trace circles over the fabric of her shirt. She makes sure to look into Natalie's eyes, then, hoping that they aid her in conveying all the thoughts in her head.

"But you're my best friend. And if you need me, I'll be here. Always." Renee says. Natalie stares at her for what seemed like hours, but is really only a minute or two. Eventually, a delicate smile consumes her features and she moves onto her side, facing Renee directly. Renee blinks at the sudden change, hand falling from Natalie's shoulder in slight shock. She gulps when Natalie tucks a stray hair behind her ear that had fallen in front of her eyes, her fingertips lightly grazing her cheek on their way down.

"That's the first time you've admitted we're best friends." Natalie giggles after she says this, and Renee bites back the urge to push it all away. Bites back the scoff rising in her throat and the "Don't think anything of it" she would usually say in a situation like this. For once, she says to herself, maybe it would be okay to allow this, despite the conflicting emotions telling her otherwise.

Instead, Renee licks her suddenly dry lips and allows Natalie to caress her cheek for a few more seconds, allows her ocean eyes to gaze into hers as if the world around them doesn't exist anymore. Where there's no Apex Games, where there's no voices in her head, where there's no uncertainty about who she was before. There's no Crypto or Caustic.

Just them.

Renee takes a shaky breath and leans forward, catching Natalie off guard when she presses her lips to her forehead. She lingers only briefly before retreating, gauging Natalie's reaction afterwards. There's a flush on her cheeks now, and the tears and sadness seem long forgotten in that moment, as her smile widens to the point of cracking her face open and the breath leaves Renee's lungs at how beautiful she looks.

"You _are_ my best friend." Renee whispers in the small space between them. Natalie's eyes crinkle as she smiles, and her arms wrap around Renee's body. Renee exhales slowly and returns the embrace.

"Thank you, Ren." Natalie replies into her chest. Renee quirks an eyebrow, staring at the wall opposite the bed.

"For what?"

Natalie tightens her hold on her, and Renee can almost feel the smile searing into her skin through her shirt.

"Being here." She replies.

Renee glances down at the blonde set of curls in her face. She hesitates only a second, then presses her lips to the other woman's head. She's unsure if Natalie feels it or not, but it doesn't matter to her in that moment.

"Can you stay here tonight?" Natalie says softly. Renee smiles into her hair and nods. She closes her eyes shortly after, allowing the sweet scent of Natalie's shampoo fill her nose and the warmth of her arms guide her into a deep sleep, hoping her own provided the same for the woman pressing up against her.

From dusk till dawn, she'll be there for her.


End file.
